T-Fal FR8000 Deep Fryer Review

The T-Fal FR8000 sells itself on its easy to use design and its easy to clean system, which includes oil filtration. Its multiple detaching parts and its oil filtration system will do just that, make cleaning your deep fryer super easy to clean. Once you're done deep frying, simply let the oil cool and drain it.

Those aren't the only handy features in the T-Fal Fr8000 though. It also includes a lid that helps sift the odors of deep frying while giving you a see-through panel to inspect your deep fried foods.

Who is this product for?

This is a deep fryer with a fair amount of room, offers easy to use features, especially when it comes to cleaning, so this feels good for somebody looking to spend a bit more to ensure they get not only a professional looking deep fryer, but one that is easy to manage and clean, to safe them headaches down the road.

Lets be honest here. It's easy to maintain a deep fryer in unsafe conditions by letting the oil go bad by a number of ways, such as letting remaining food particles sitting in your deep frying, not changing out your oil often enough, and never really cleaning the unit itself.

With the oil draining system, it cleans and filters the oil for you, and allows you to take out the remaining pieces to throw into the dish washer, or hand wash. It's not a deep fryer that simply allows you to be lazy with.

So, we believe it's a nice deep fryer with those with a little to spend. Given its size, it can easily be used for multiple people, we'd say a family up to four to six.. If you're cooking for six, you may have to make a second batch, but that'll be the case unless you get an absolutely massive deep fryer.

What’s included?

With the T-Fal FR8000, you're going to get an assortment of parts including a frying basket with a handle, a removable pot for the basket to rest, and a separate draining container. Of course, you'll get an instruction booklet, as well as a limited one year warranty.

Overview of features

Stainless Steel- The interior and exterior are both primarily made out of stainless steel materials. The only exception is the draining container is made out of a type of plastic. It's going to look nice, and if cleaned properly after each use, should hold pretty well over time.

Draining System- On the front of the deep fryer, you'll have a dial that shows oil box, fry, and automatic filtration. When on oil box, the oil box is free to be taken in and out. While on fry, it's locked in and isn't going to come out. Lastly, when it's an automatic filtration, it has a system of waiting until the fryer has cooled, and will then automatically filtrate the oil by sifting through its contents. All the clean oil will end up in the plastic container underneath it. If you use this feature right, you shouldn't have any problems. The automatic filtration has a fail-safe so it won't allow you to drain the oil while its hot. However, we still do not like that the container is plastic. There are some users that don't actually use this feature properly, and hot oil ends up draining into the plastic container, in some form or another. This causes the plastic to melt in certain places, and can cause a big dangerous mess. Now, that is likely the fault of the user, however when it comes to any product, malfunctions simply happen, whether out of the box or after many uses. I'd personally pay extra to ensure I had a container that could withstand the heat of deep frying oil. Just to know if anything went wrong, I wouldn't have hot oil going anywhere. That's my biggest, and mostly only gripe with this deep fryer. I'd be willing to shell out a little extra to see this feature. Maybe, T-Fal felt this wasn't necessary, or that the uptick in cost may push away too many people, but personally, I'd prefer it.

1700 Wattage- This is really a decent powered deep fryer. You're not going to find many home deep fryers operating at more than 1800 wattage, so 1800 is extremely solid. Your oil shouldn't take too long to heat up.

Odor Filtering Lid- I've neverhad a lot of issues with lingering odors with most deep fryers I've ever used, but some deem it a big deal. This T-Fal deep fryer should help eliminate odors with its filtering lid, that also features a see-through panel to check in on your food without removing the lid.

Removable Basket- This is really a simple necessity in any home deep fryer these days. This works as it should.

Side Handles- T-Fal was smart enough to place side handles on this deep fryer, for easier movement and storage when not in use.

Oil Capacity: 3.5 Liters- This simply lets you know how much oil this deep fryer will hold. You won't have to measure it out as the interior has an oil line, which you shouldn't pass, to allow your food enough room to cook thoroughly.

On/Off Switch- This is more important than you'd think in a deep fryer. A lot of models actually force you to unplug your unit to turn it off. Sometimes that can be difficulty depending on the placement of the deep fryer. A switch keeps things simple, as everything should be.

How to Use the T-Fal Fr8000

To start your deep fryer, ensure your bottom front toggle is set to Fry and that your oil drain container is securely in place. If so, you're able to turn on your deep fryer with a switch with a switch on the right side on the top of the unit.

You'll be able to set your temperature with a temperature gauge to up to 375°. This is the ideal temperature for some of the foods you need to cook at the highest settings such as french fries.

Once heated, you can fill up your basket. Though ensure you don't overfill it, or your oil temp will drop more than it should, and your food may not have enough space to cook evenly.

Slowly, immerse the basket into the oil. Its best to pat down any food that is wet before placing it into the basket, as liquids can cause more splash back as you put it in the deep fryer. Once immersed, you can place the lid over the food.

Allow your food to cook for the proper time. You can check in on it through the see-through top lid if you're unsure. We recommend to leave the lid on as much as possible, to help keep the temperature and to prevent oil from popping onto you or your counters.

Once cooked, turn your deep fryer off with the switch, remove the lid, and slowly lift up your basket.

You can place your food on a paper-towel lined plate. Ensure you pat your food once its on the plate to remove any excess oil.

How to Clean the T-Fal FR8000 Deep Fryer

Once you're done cooking and probably eating, you may eventually want to clean your deep fryer before the end of the day. If you flipped your toggle to automatic oil filtration, the oil will automatically drain once it has cooled down.

Once the oil has cooled and drained, you can take your removable pieces and either quickly hand wash them, or if you'd prefer, place them in your dish washer.

The container that is holding your oil can be saved. To remove this container, move the toggle back to oil box. Your oil is most definitely re-usable. If you need a guide on how to know when oil goes bad, check out my article here. Its best to store oil in cool areas, either room temperature, or if you have extra space, the fridge works nicely as well. Cooler temperatures help prevent the oil from going bad as quickly.

Customer Service Reputation

Sometimes people brush off the importance of Customer Service. However, this is the 21st century, where everything is massed produced. Even on great products, faulty factory things happen, so it's important for the merchant to not only sell superior products to its consumers, but also great service.

After visiting several merchants online, I can say, almost anything negative about this deep fryer isn't about the fryer itself, but about a faulty unit and/or its customer service. People have struggled to get through to customer service to correct faulty units. While these units won't appear often, it's always nice to find merchants willing to give 100% even after the sale. You're probably not going to get that with the T-Fal FR8000.

Conclusion

Overall, we like enjoy the T-Fal FR8000 and its features. Its easy to use, offers convenient features, and has one of the best overall cleaning experiences when it comes to a deep fryer. While we still have no problem recommending this product, we're weary about the fact that the drainage container is plastic. Their customer service could also use an upgrade. We hope you've liked our review. If you have any questions before making your purchasing decision, feel free to add in the comments below

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